Garment hanger



C. A. ISAACSON GARMENT HANGER Aug. 12, 1947.

Filed Dec. 6, 1943 Z'SheetS-Sheet 1 (II/III) Aug. 12, 1947. c. A. isAAcsoN 2,425,475

GARMENT HANGER 7 Filed Dec. 6', 1945 I 2 Sheets-Sheet 2' I AZZorn/qg;

Patented Aug. 12, 1947 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 10 Claims.

My present invention provides an extremely simple and highly efiicient garment hanger that is adapted for use in hanging a wide variety of garments; such, for example, as coats, jackets, shirts, ladies skirts and slips, and mens trousers.

The hanger of the present invention is truly universal in character and scope of application, since it may be quickly converted from coat type hanger (meaning a hanger adapted to engage a top garment, such as a-coat, jacket, shirt .or the like, under the shoulder portions thereof) to a skirt type hanger (meaning a hanger adapted to .be inserted into the flattened waist band of a skirt or the like and engage the same with expanding pressure).

Among the important objects of the invention is the provision of a garment hanger which can be collapsed or folded into a minimum of space for shipping and carrying.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a hanger that is readilyadjustable to accommodate skirts, trousers, andthe like of different waist band measurements.

Generally stated, the invention consists of novel devices, combinations of devices, and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and defined.

The above and other highly important objects and advantages of the invention will be made apparent from the following specification, claims, and appended drawings.

In the accompanying drawings, like characters indicate like parts throughout the several views,

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. l is a view in side elevation showing a hanger of the present invention with its parts psitioned for hanging'top garments, such as coats, jacketszandthe like;

Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation showing the hanger folded for shipping=oreasy carrying;

Fig. 3 is ,a view looking downwardly on the hanger with the par-ts positioned as in Fig. 1, some parts being broken away;

Fig. 4 is a view :in side elevation showing the hanger with-itspartspositioned for use as askirt type of hanger and having part of the hook brokenaway;

Fig.5 is'an enlarged detail sectional view taken on the line 55 of Fig. 1;

Fig, 6 is anenlarged detail sectional view taken on the -line66 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged detail sectional view taken on the line"'ll of Fig. -1;;

Fig. 8 is a detail .view of a spring friction-producingwasher;

.makes an Fig. 9 is a fragmentary View illustrating use .of the hanger as atrouser hanger; and

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary view looking downwardly on Fig. 9.

The hanger illustrated comprises apai-r of rigid main arms H and a pair of rigid supplemental arms l2, which arms are all formed of flat strip material which may be wood, plastic, or metal. Wood, however, has been found to be the cheapest and, hence, the most practical from a commercial point of view at this time, although it is believed that in the future it may be commercially feasible to form the arms H and I2 of plastic material which would have the benefit of a superioreye appeal.

The main arms ll are overlapped at their innor ends and pivotally connected together by a .hollowrivet or 'the like l3, and the inner ends of the supplemental arms i2 are similarl overlapped and pivoted together by means of hollow rivets or the like [4, For use in suspending the hanger :from a hook or bar, .a wire hook ii is provided at its lower end with a loop .or eye 16 that works over the intermediate portion .of the rivet l4 and bet-ween the inner ends of the supplemental arms I2, see particularly Figs. land,3. The outer ends of the supplemental arms [-2 are ,pivotally anchored to the longitudinally intermediate portions .of the opposite arms I Iby rivets or the like 1?! at points equally spaced from the pivot point iii of arms ll. With this arrangement, pivotal movements of the main arms II will produce a straight up and down movement between the pivots l3 and M so long as the free ends of arms ll be maintained in a horizontal plane, In other words, with this arrangement, relative movement between the pivot points l3 and I l will be in a straight line and will produce identical movements of the mainarms l I.

For convenience in carryin and shipping, the

hanger described may be folded into a very com- I pact unit, as shown in Fig. 2, b moving the main arms =H upwardly to th maximum extent about their pivotal connection l3.

When the hanger is to be used as a coat .type hanger or upper garment hanger, the free ends of the main arms H are moved to their extreme positions shown in Fig. 1, wherein the inner ends of the main arms rest against the bottom upper edge portions of the supplemental arms 12 at 1.8, "and wherein the .pair of arms H and the pair of arms 12 each form inverted Vs. With the parts .thusly positioned, as shown in Fig. 1, the device ideal coat hanger when applied through the .neck portion of :a coat with its arms free ends of the arms II pivotally upwardly to a point whereat the free ends of said arms are above the pivot point I3 thereof and as much further in that direction as is necessary to fit the particular skirt involved, and reference is here made to Fig. 4, which shows the hanger as it would appear when applied to a skirt, shown only by dotted lines. To apply the device to a skirt, the hanger is applied within the waist band with the end of one of its arms I l in engagement with one inside portion of the waist band, and then the hanger arms are spread until the free end of the other arm I I comes into engagement with an opposite inside portion of the waist band and draws the skirt waist band taut. Of course, the greater the girth or diameter of the skirt waist band involved, the greater will be the spread of the arms II and vice versa. For the purpose of adapting the free ends of arms II to engage with equal frictional gripping action skirts of widely varying diameters, the free ends of arms II are preferably rounded on an are that is tangent with the bottom edges of said arms and said rounded ends are preferably provided with circumferentially spaced grooves I9 forming intervening gripping teeth. In the illustration of Fig. 4, the

hanger is shown with its parts positioned for engagement with a skirt of relatively large diameter, but it will be clear that the angle of divergence between the opposite arms II will be greatly decreased when materially smaller diameter skirts are used. Hence, with arms having arcuate ends as shown in the drawings, large diameter skirts are engaged close to the upper portions of the arcuate ends; whereas, smaller diameter skirts will be engaged nearer the bottom portions of the arcuate ends. With the arrangement shown, the weight of the skirt has a tendency to produce a spreading action of the arms I I and, of course, this tendency is useful in keeping the hanger tightly engaged with the waist band of the skirt.

While it is important that the arms II and I2 be free for adjusting movements, it is also highly desirable that there be sufficient friction between the various pivoted elements to prevent accidental movements thereof while handling and to relieve heavy skirts of excessive expanding action of the arms. Hence, to insure a constant frictional drag against pivotal action, I preferably apply a suitable yielding friction-producing device at the pivot I3. In the preferred arrangement illustrated, this friction-producing device is in the nature of a conventional split spring lock washer 20 that is applied under the head I3a of rivet I3 and over a conventional flat washer 2 I.

To adapt the device of the invention to the hanging of mens trousers from the waist band, I preferably equip one of the arms I I with a spring clip 22. This spring clip 22 is, in side elevation, in the form of an inverted U lying close against the side of one of the arms II with its outer end free and its inner end portion wound around the arm II and clinched thereinto at 23, see particularly Fig. 5. Not only does this clinching at 23 into the arm II positively anchor t e spring clip 4 22 against sliding movements longitudinally of the arm, but it also provides a pivot point about which the free end of the clip 22' is adapted to move in a plane parallel to the side of arm I I within limits caused by engagement of the clip with the top and bottom edges of the arm I I. The importance of this pivotal movement of the clip 22 will hereinafter be made apparent.

For use in hanging mens trousers from the waist band, the parts of the device are positioned much as for hanging a skirt, see Figs. 9 and 10, and are applied similarly within the waist band of the trousers. However, for hanging trousers, it is important that the trousers be maintained in a flat condition to maintain the pressing thereof, and this can only be done by turning in the waist band on lines co-extensive with the press lines in the fronts of the trouser legs to produce an inturned flap such as 24, Figs. 9 and 10. When this is done, the arms II are applied to the waist band of the trousers much as described in connection with a skirt, but with one of the arms II projecting alongside of the turned-in flap 24, which flap is clipped in position against the arm by means of the free end portion of clip 22, see particularly Figs. 9 and 10.

Now, as to the importance of the pivotal movements of the free end portion of clip 22 in the plane of the adjacent side of its arm II, it may be said that for use as a coat hanger this clip,

which then has no function, may be moved pivotally downwardly to a position below that shown in Fig. 1 and wherein it is largely below the upper edge of its arm II; and for use as a skirt hanger, the extreme free end of clip 22 may be moved pivotally upwardly to a point substantially as shown in Fig. 4, wherein thersaid extreme free end is clear of the toothed arcuate end of its arm II. What I claim is: I 1. A garment hanger comprising a pair of rigid main arms directly pivoted together adjacent their inner ends, and a pair of rigid supplemental arms pivoted directly to one another at a point directly above the point of pivotal connection of the main arms, said pair of supplemental arms diverging outwardly and downwardly from their per ends overlapped and pivotally connected at a point above the pivot point of the main arms, the lower end portion of each supplemental arm overlapping and being pivotally anchored to the longitudinally intermediate porti-on'of an opposite main arm, each supplemental arm overlapping the same side of the main arm as is overlapped by an opposite main arm, and meansfor suspending the hanger from the apex portion of the inverted V formed by the supplemental arms, whereby downward pivotal movements of the free end. portions of the main arms will be limited to a point whereat the inner end portions of said arms move upwardly each into engagement with an opposite supplemental arm.

3. The structuredefined in claim 2 in which the said means for suspending the hanger is in the nature of an open hook having its lower end portion anchored to the pivot of the supplemental arms.

4. The structure defined in claim 2 in which the said means for suspending the hanger is in the nature of an open hook having its lower end portion anchored to the pivot of the supplemental arms, said hook being formed of wire and having its lower end portion disposed between opposite of the supplemental arms and turned about the pivot thereof.

5. The structure defined in claim 2 in which the free ends of the main hanger arms are rounded on arcs tangent to the lower edges of said arms.

6. The structure defined in claim 2 in which the free ends of the main hanger arms are rounded on arcs tangent to the lower edges of said arms, said arcuate ends of the main arms being notched at circumferentially spaced points to provide circumferentially spaced gripping teeth.

7. The structure defined in claim 2 in which the said main and supplemental arms are formed of fiat strip material of like cross section.

8. The structure defined in claim 2 in further combination with a trouser flap-engaging clip in the nature of an inverted U lying fiat against one side of the free end portion of one of said main arms, the inner end portion of said inverted U-shaped clip being anchored to the arm for limited pivotal movements of the free end thereof in a plane parallel to the plane of the side of the arm.

6 9. The structure defined in claim 2 in which the I free ends of the main hanger arms are rounded on arcs having their centers near the upper edges of the arms.

10. A garment hanger comprising a pair of rigid main arms directly pivoted together adjacent their inner ends, and a pair of rigid supplemental arms directly pivoted together at a point directly above the point of pivotal connection of the main arms, said pair of supplemental arms diverging outwardly and downwardly from their point of pivotal connection and being pivotally connected at their lower ends each to the intermediate portion of a difi'erent main arm, and a hook connected to the pivot of the supplemental arms and extending upwardly therefrom.

his CARL A. X ISAACSON.

mark Witness to mark:

RALPH W. EUSTIS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,251,894 Mizer Aug. 5, 1941 2,259,692 Hegedus Oct. 21, 1941 2,290,722 Weingarter July 21, 1942 

